False Imprisonment in UK Law

Leading Cases
  • R v Deputy Governor of Parkhurst Prison and Others, ex parte Hague ; Weldon v Home Office
    • House of Lords
    • 24 July 1991

    The tort of false imprisonment has two ingredients: the fact of imprisonment and the absence of lawful authority to justify it. Thus if A imposes on B a restraint within defined bounds and is sued by B for false imprisonment, the action will succeed or fail according to whether or not A can justify the restraint imposed on B as lawful.

    This consideration also leads to the conclusion that a prison officer who acts in bad faith by deliberately subjecting a prisoner to a restraint which he knows he has no authority to impose may render himself personally liable to an action for false imprisonment as well as committing the tort of misfeasance in public office. Lacking the authority of the governor, he also lacks the protection of section 12(1).

  • Liversidge v Anderson
    • House of Lords
    • 03 November 1941

    The Plaintiff's right to particulars however is based upon a much broader ground, a principle which again is one of the pillars of liberty in that in English law every imprisonment is prima facie unlawful, and that it is for a person directing imprisonment to justify his act. The only exception is in respect of imprisonment ordered by a judge, who from the nature of his office cannot be sued, and the validity of whose judicial decisions cannot in such proceedings as the present be questioned.

  • R (Walumba Lumba and another) v Secretary of State for the Home Department
    • Supreme Court
    • 23 March 2011

    It is not every breach of public law that is sufficient to give rise to a cause of action in false imprisonment. In the present context, the breach of public law must bear on and be relevant to the decision to detain. Thus, for example, a decision to detain made by an official of a different grade from that specified in a detention policy would not found a claim in false imprisonment. Nor too would a decision to detain a person under conditions different from those described in the policy.

  • Weldon v Home Office
    • Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
    • 28 March 1990

    Although the Respondent may, in the end, fail to establish the facts we must proceed for the moment on the basis that he was kept locked up naked overnight in a cell known as a strip cell. It is said that as he was lawfully detained in the prison this cannot amount to false imprisonment. If this be right it must I think follow that he could have had no claim for false imprisonment if his detention naked in that cell had continued for weeks.

  • Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago v Ramanoop
    • Privy Council
    • 23 March 2005

    An award of compensation will go some distance towards vindicating the infringed constitutional right. The fact that the right violated was a constitutional right adds an extra dimension to the wrong. An additional award, not necessarily of substantial size, may be needed to reflect the sense of public outrage, emphasise the importance of the constitutional right and the gravity of the breach, and deter further breaches.

  • R v Bournewood Community and Mental Health NHS Trust, ex parte L (Secretary of State for Health intervening)
    • House of Lords
    • 25 June 1998

    I observe however that no mention is here made of the requirement that, for the tort of false imprisonment to be committed, there must in fact be a complete deprivation of, or restraint upon, the plaintiff's liberty.

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Legislation
  • Modern Slavery Act 2015
    • UK Non-devolved
    • January 01, 2015
    ... ... 1 or 2 is liable—(a) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life;(b) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not ... (3) Where the offence under section 4 is committed by kidnapping or false imprisonment, a person guilty of that offence is liable, on conviction on ... ...
  • Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019
    • UK Non-devolved
    • January 01, 2019
    ... ... under this section is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, or to a fine, or to both.(10) In this ... under the law of Scotland.Poisoning under the law of Scotland.False imprisonment under the law of Northern Ireland ... (6) In the list of ... ...
  • Serious Crime Act 2015
    • UK Non-devolved
    • January 01, 2015
    ... ... "(2A) Where a court is fixing a term of imprisonment or detention under section 139(2) of the Sentencing Act (as applied by ... other than under the authority of a licence, possession of false documents, etc) ... (2) Fraud ... (3) Conspiracy to defraud ... (4) ... ...
  • Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Act 2021
    • UK Non-devolved
    • January 01, 2021
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Books & Journal Articles
Law Firm Commentaries
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Forms
  • Respondent's notice (For use in appeals in the Family Division of the High Court)
    • HM Courts & Tribunals Service court and tribunal forms
    Family forms including the form to apply for a non-molestation order or an occupation order (Form FL401).
    ... ... is correct before signing. It is a contempt of court to sign a false statement of truth without an honest belief in ... its truth, for which ... fined, have your assets seized or be sentenced to a term of imprisonment ... The notice MUST be signed by you or your solicitor if legally ... ...
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